The present invention relates to clips and to casings, particularly casings for test telephones. A test telephone is an example of an article which must be releasably connectable to objects, for example to the belt of a telephone engineer, to a mounting structure affixed to a telegraph pole, or to a telephone cable. The clips according to the invention are particularly suitable for quick and reversible connection to the chosen mounting.
As shown schematically in FIG. 1, a known type of clip 1', includes a closed loop of stainless steel, the loop including a hook 3' and a gate 4' and being openable by moving the gate from a closed position to an open position relative to the hook. A first end of the gate is pivotally connected to the shank of the hook by a rivet 5'. The second end of the gate is free but in the closed position it contacts the end of the hook distal to the shank so as to close the loop.
The gate is biassed into the closed position by a coil spring 6' which extends between the shank and a terminal portion of the gate adjacent its first end. The shank of the hook includes a central body of rectangular cross-section and a pair of parallel plates. The plates 7 are integral with the body and project from the same inwardly directed face thereof to provide a housing for the coil spring and for the terminal portion of the gate. Each plate has two an apertures 8', 9', corresponding apertures in the two plates being in register with one another. A first pair 8' accommodates the rivet 5' connecting the gate to the hook.
As shown in FIG. 1, the clip 1' is mounted to a casing 10' of a telephone. The casing 10' has a channel 11' containing a mounting shackle 12'. This has a spaced pair of upstanding flanges 13' with aligned apertures 14 '. A rivet 15' extends through these apertures and the second pair of apertures 9' of the clip, for pivotably mounting the clip.
This known type of clip assembly suffers from the disadvantage that in the open position, the gate lies against the shank of the hook. Accordingly, it hinders the movement of an object into the "mouth" of the hook when the object is being connected to the clip. This difficulty is particularly accentuated when the user tries to attach the clip to relatively large objects. Such movement is further hindered by the way the clip is mounted to the casing. The plates 7' have an exposed rear corner region 15' which will tend to snag an object over which the clip is sliding. Furthermore they project in a direction which narrows the mouth of the hook.
For the telephone engineer this difficulty may be especially important. The engineer may be working at a considerable height up a telegraph pole and therefore will need a quick and simple way of attaching an item, such as a telephone, to a mounting structure on the pole. The longer that the object is unattached to its intended mount, the greater the risk that it will fall.
The present invention aims to provide an improved type of clip, casing and test telephone which ameliorates the above disadvantage: the clip is suitable for quick and easy connection of an item, eg. a telephone, to a mounting structure.